The Faces nightclub will soon be replaced by the Residences at Alewife.

Courtesy of Criterion Development Partners.

Faces nightclub, the 1970s era club that closed in 1990, was the place where disco kings and queens crowded onto the dance floor. But by 2008 it was what one blogger called “the mother of all Cambridge eyesores.”

Bedford-based Criterion Development Partners has demolished the club and is building 228 apartments on the Route 2 location and the area is becoming the most visible example of a boom in apartment developments in North Cambridge.

The Faces nightclub will soon be replaced by the Residences at Alewife.

Courtesy of Criterion Development Partners.

“We love the site,” said Criterion principal John Englert. “We love the exposure and the visibility.”

Susan Glazer, Cambridge’s deputy director for community development, said officials are happy to see something done with the Faces property, with its ugly sign and decaying building. “The Faces site had been on the market for many, many years, and we fretted about it because it was sort of the gateway to the city,” she said.

For more on apartment development in Cambridge, read “Apartment fever ” (premium content.)